Santa Barbara, Calif., is truly the stuff of dreams: It’s sunny, oceanside, quaint, and unique. It’s also now regulation central – the hub of the nation’s nanny state. However, earlier this month, it became the stuff of nightmares, at least for those who care about limited government. Santa Barbara not only passed a ban on plastic straws, but an ordinance that authorizes the city’s law enforcement to impose hefty fines and possibly jail time “for violators who dole out plastic straws at restaurants, bars and other food establishments.”
According to the ordinance, restaurants and other establishments will be given a written warning the first time they sell/pass out plastic straws. The second offense will result in a “fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), imprisonment for a term not exceeding six (6) months.” Seattle, which instituted a similar strict ban of plastic straws in July, will fine businesses $250 per offense.
A ban on straws is ludicrous both for practical and philosophical reasons. Straws aren’t just a personal choice, they are actually functional, incredibly helpful even, for plenty of people. It’s as if lawmakers who passed this ordinance have never met a child (children tend to prefer straws when they’re younger), an elderly person, or someone recovering from illness.
Furthermore, like many things the government does, or fails to do, this isn’t even about straws. It’s about how much right the government has to tell a restaurant what to do or sell. As long as patrons aren’t contracting food poison or dining in the midst of rat feces (and one could even make a case that this isn’t the government’s business either) regulations should remain at a minimum. It hurts consumers which hurts the market and the cycle perpetuates, affecting everybody’s financial bottom line.
For the government to ban straws for the sake of the environment is to insert oneself as a regulatory entity far beyond its original purpose: They are purporting to know what is good or useful for the average consumer while actually infringing both on the restaurants’ rights to serve a consumer and their right to comfort and practicality.
Nicole Russell (@russell_nm) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a journalist who previously worked in Republican politics in Minnesota.
